Do crosswalk buttons really work?

[tradephoric]

[freebrickproductions]

I pushed one today here in Huntsville and on the next cycle I got a walk signal.
Depends on where you live I guess.

[Pete from Boston]

They work here. 

[hotdogPi]

I notice them working — the walk signals go on, and all the traffic lights turn red.

[1995hoo]

I always laugh at the people who think pressing them six or seven times will somehow make the light change sooner. Same thing happens at elevators. Do people think it somehow doesn't count if they haven't pressed the button themselves?

[wisvishr0]

I always laugh at the people who think pressing them six or seven times will somehow make the light change sooner. Same thing happens at elevators. Do people think it somehow doesn't count if they haven't pressed the button themselves?

No, it's just we have nothing better to do while we're waiting 1000000 million minutes for the signal to say "WALK."

1: I noticed that when I went to Boston (they stop all traffic, so you could basically just walk across the intersection if you wanted). They've implemented that in Takoma Park Maryland too, and I think it works great! And it only turns on if you press the button.

[Big John]

They do work, but not to get a faster green.  It gives a walk signal when the signal would normally turn green so you have enough time to cross the road on the green.  Other use is for actuated intersections where if there are no vehicles parallel to the crosswalk you are using, it will give the green and the walk signal where it would have otherwise skip the cycle and have a steady red.

[Roadrunner75]

They actually don't work.  You all just got lucky and walked up at the right time.

[freebrickproductions]

They actually don't work.  You all just got lucky and walked up at the right time.

I guess I'm one lucky as hell person then. Because the pedestrian signals have changed every time I've walked up and pushed the button.

[realjd]

They notoriously aren't hooked up in NYC. Elsewhere, they almost always are hooked up. At the light at the entrance to my neighborhood for instance, the green for cars leaving the neighborhood is short but if the pedestrian button is pushed it shows the walk sign and extends the green long enough for pedestrians to cross the busy main road.

[1995hoo]

They notoriously aren't hooked up in NYC. Elsewhere, they almost always are hooked up. At the light at the entrance to my neighborhood for instance, the green for cars leaving the neighborhood is short but if the pedestrian button is pushed it shows the walk sign and extends the green long enough for pedestrians to cross the busy main road.

There are several lights like that near our neighborhood. Makes sense for a six-lane arterial with a bus stop on each side. (Actually, counting the left-turn lane I guess it's seven lanes there.)

[Roadrunner75]

They actually don't work.  You all just got lucky and walked up at the right time.

I guess I'm one lucky as hell person then. Because the pedestrian signals have changed every time I've walked up and pushed the button.

You are - or the video detection is aimed at the sidewalk or a loop detector picked up your pocket change.   

[tradephoric]

I guess I'm one lucky as hell person then. Because the pedestrian signals have changed every time I've walked up and pushed the button.

How does the signal operate when you DON'T press the push-button though?  If the WALK still comes up, then you know the push-button is disabled and doesn't do anything.

[freebrickproductions]

They actually don't work.  You all just got lucky and walked up at the right time.

I guess I'm one lucky as hell person then. Because the pedestrian signals have changed every time I've walked up and pushed the button.

You are - or the video detection is aimed at the sidewalk or a loop detector picked up your pocket change.   

I guess I'm one lucky as hell person then. Because the pedestrian signals have changed every time I've walked up and pushed the button.

How does the signal operate when you DON'T press the push-button though?  If the WALK still comes up, then you know the push-button is disabled and doesn't do anything.

I was being sarcastic.
I know all of the ones here in Huntsville work and the ones in Athens work as well.

[tradephoric]

I pushed one today here in Huntsville and on the next cycle I got a walk signal.
Depends on where you live I guess.

The point is you would get a WALK if the push-buttons in Huntsville are disabled.  Your initial post doesn't give enough information.

[Mr. Matté]

I've pushed a button to get the light on the main road to immediately turn yellow. The downside is that there's no "all red" between the end of the flashing don't walk and the green for the cars.

[cl94]

We all know that those in NYC do not work. With the amount of pedestrian traffic, having them is plain stupid. This is true with just about any place that has several pedestrians.

I've discovered that several in and around Buffalo do not work either. Some never trigger a walk cycle, but others will show the walk cycle even if the button is not pressed. The latter is obviously not an issue, but the former can get annoying. At NYSDOT signals, the walk cycle often triggers with a green light. Good example of this is US 20 / NY 78 at CRs 21/338 in Cheektowaga. County/city/village/town signals are a different story altogether.

[freebrickproductions]

There are some in Huntsville that don't work because a car knocked down a signal there and they haven't reactivated about half of the buttons there yet. They have the signs above them flipped so they face the poles instead.

[Scott5114]

I hardly ever have a reason to use them in Norman, but every time I do the signals certainly behave as though the buttons do work.

[jeffandnicole]

I was a little confused by the story.  I'm guessing they tried to say that you won't get the walk signal the very moment you hit the button.  Which is a good thing, because traffic would be unbelievably congested and gridlocked, and pedestrians would then be forced to squeeze between cars stuck in the gridlock. For many people, they probably drive into the city...meaning they would have been stuck in that same congestion. 

[thenetwork]

I guess I'm one lucky as hell person then. Because the pedestrian signals have changed every time I've walked up and pushed the button.

How does the signal operate when you DON'T press the push-button though?  If the WALK still comes up, then you know the push-button is disabled and doesn't do anything.

In my area, we have lights that are like that.  But what some people fail to realize is that perhaps during the day (7a-7p) the lights run on a regular phasing cycle (part of a larger, area-wide synchronized system) which includes the crosswalk signals.   During the off hours, these same lights go into "trip signal" mode and only change when it detects activity.  That's when the crosswalk buttons come into play.

I questioned one upgraded intersection recently when I saw them install crosswalk buttons.  I said, "WTF, the entire signal is on a timed cycle.  What a waste of money".  But then one night I happened to be through the area and realized that the intersection was running independently of others, and the crosswalk lights would not change on a green light.

Another reason why there may be buttons at an intersection with regular signal/crosswalk cycles is for the vision impaired -- the buttons may activate a "chirping sound" or other audio cue to let a visually-challenged person know when it is safe/not safe to cross.  If the button is not pushed, then no cues/noises are made when the walk signal is activated.   If you live/work within earshot of one of these intersections,  it helps that you don't have to hear the crossing noises or tones EVERY 60 seconds -- only when the demand is there.

[roadman65]

I have found that they do.  You do not even have to hold the button until the green like most people do, however now the new style of call button is touch plate.  There is no spring loaded button as to say, but you touch it like a touch screen and it beeps to let you know the call for the signal is placed.

Plus in Orange County, FL the School Crossing Guards do use them to make the light longer.  In many places the crosswalks add twenty or so seconds to the signal green time.  In LBV coming out of Crossroads Center, I have found when there is no pedestrians there the signal cheats those leaving the shopping center and creates a two or three light wait time.  When the crosswalk is activated every vehicle leaving Crossroads makes the signal.  It makes me want to leave my car and push the button when no pedestrians are present just to give the signal the proper timing it deserves.

[algorerhythms]

I hardly ever have a reason to use them in Norman, but every time I do the signals certainly behave as though the buttons do work.

They do work. I often see college kids waiting to cross at Lindsey who assume they don't work, and wonder why the light never changes.

Okay, they usually work. There's a timer that sets a minimum delay before a button press will change the light. On weekends in the summer the lights on Lindsey are set so the delay is infinite, so automobile traffic always gets a green light and pedestrians never get a walk sign.

[tradephoric]

I guess I'm one lucky as hell person then. Because the pedestrian signals have changed every time I've walked up and pushed the button.

How does the signal operate when you DON'T press the push-button though?  If the WALK still comes up, then you know the push-button is disabled and doesn't do anything.

In my area, we have lights that are like that.  But what some people fail to realize is that perhaps during the day (7a-7p) the lights run on a regular phasing cycle (part of a larger, area-wide synchronized system) which includes the crosswalk signals.   During the off hours, these same lights go into "trip signal" mode and only change when it detects activity.  That's when the crosswalk buttons come into play.

I questioned one upgraded intersection recently when I saw them install crosswalk buttons.  I said, "WTF, the entire signal is on a timed cycle.  What a waste of money".  But then one night I happened to be through the area and realized that the intersection was running independently of others, and the crosswalk lights would not change on a green light.

Another reason why there may be buttons at an intersection with regular signal/crosswalk cycles is for the vision impaired -- the buttons may activate a "chirping sound" or other audio cue to let a visually-challenged person know when it is safe/not safe to cross.  If the button is not pushed, then no cues/noises are made when the walk signal is activated.   If you live/work within earshot of one of these intersections,  it helps that you don't have to hear the crossing noises or tones EVERY 60 seconds -- only when the demand is there.

Those are good points.  I never considered the pedestrian phase would be programmed to change mode type by time of day.  However, is it worth the cost to install and maintain the push-buttons to reduce the delay for a small percentage of drivers (late night drivers)?  Since the pedestrian phase would be designed to cycle from 7AM-7PM, how long would it take for the city to even realize when a push-button faults (and thus cycling the side-street 24/7 as opposed to 7AM-7PM)?

[vdeane]

They actually don't work.  You all just got lucky and walked up at the right time.

I once pushed the button and got a walk phase at an intersection that never displays walk.  I must have gotten really lucky.  And it's happened at other similar intersections too, every single time.  I must be really lucky.